Qumran | Jewish Virtual Library Tweet Qumran is located on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea , several kilometers south of Jericho . In 1947, in a cave just south of Qumran, Bedouins found the first Dead Sea scrolls . Following this discovery, Qumran was excavated by the Dominican Father R. de Vaux in the years 1951-56. A complex of buildings, extending over an area of 100 x 80 m. was uncovered, dating to the Second Temple period. The location of the site and its plan, the scrolls found in the vicinity and the simple ceramic vessels of the inhabitants, bear witness in de Vaux's view, to a settlement of the Essene sect. We also know of the presence of the Essenes in the Judean Desert and near the Dead Sea from the writings of Pliny the Elder. (Naturalis Historia V, 17) The view of Qumran as an Essene center is opposed by those who propose that the site was a villa, an inn or a fortress. These views are not supported by archeological evidence, and most scholars accept de Vaux's interpretation.

Recently, an ostracon (a potsherd with writing) with several lines of Hebrew script, was found at Qumran. It is a contract in which a man named Honi bestows his possessions, including a building, an olive and a fig orchard, to a group called yahad (Hebrew, together). If this reading is correct, it provides evidence for identifying the sect that inhabited Qumran, and the name by which members of the group designated themselves. The term occurs in other manuscripts of the Essenes. Settlement at Qumran At the end of the First Temple period (8th-7th centuries BCE), a first settlement was established at the site. Sparse remains of a small, fortified farmhouse or Judahite fort were found. The site was identified by some as Secacah, or the City of Salt, two of the six cities in the desert territory of Judah. (Joshua 15:61-62 ) Settlement at Qumran was renewed at the end of the 2nd century BCE, probably during the reign of the Hasmonean King John Hyrcanus I, when the existing structure was restored and enlarged.

Then, at the beginning of the 1st century BCE, during the reign of Alexander Jannaeus, renewed building determined the plan of the site until its destruction. An aqueduct was built from a cliff above Wadi Qumran several hundred meters east of the site. Winter floodwaters were collected behind a dam at the foot of the cliff and from there flowed in the aqueduct to Qumran and filled the numerous cisterns and mikva'ot (ritual baths) there. The supply of water was essential to a permanent settlement at Qumran, where summer temperatures in this desert region are extremely high. The plan of Qumran is unique, not at all similar to other contemporary settlements, with its many large halls, undoubtedly serving public functions, and the relatively small number of living quarters. The main entrance to the settlement was in the north, at the foot of a watchtower. The walls of the buildings were made of stones gathered at the foot of the cliff and plastered with thick, white-gray plaster. The windows and doorposts were built of well-trimmed stones and the roofs, as was common in that period, were constructed of wooden beams, straw and plaster.

The main structure at Qumran had several rooms, some obviously two stories high, arranged around a central courtyard. In the northwestern corner was a square watchtower with particularly thick walls that rose above the rest of the settlement. The tower served as a lookout and warning post and protected the settlement against raids by desert tribes. A room with benches built along its walls served as a meeting-place for the members of the community and probably as a place for Torah (Bible) study. Additional building complexes, south and east of the main building contained long halls, rooms and ritual baths. One of the large halls was for meetings and served as a refectory. In a storage room and a kitchen next to it, neat piles of hundreds of pottery vessels and a large number of small food bowls were found. A workshop, in which pottery vessels for use of the community were produced, was discovered in the southeastern part of the site. The workshop included a basin for preparing the clay, a potters wheel made of stone and two round kilns for firing. A large number of mikva'ot (ritual baths) was found throughout the site. Excavated into the marl soil, they were waterproofed with thick, gray hydraulic plaster.

The broad staircase leading to the bottom was at times divided down the middle by a low (20 cm.-high) wall, which separated those descending for immersion from those leaving after purification. The ritual baths were fed by water from the aqueduct. Mikva'ot similar to those at Qumran were typical of public and private buildings in Jerusalem and elsewhere in the Second Temple period. The Mishnah (Masekhet Mikva'ot) notes the importance of immersion in water for spiritual purification and lists the requirements for such ritual baths. The mikva'ot at Qumran were built according to all these requirements. Unusual at Qumran is the large number of these installations and the size of some of them, relative to the settlement. The latter probably served the members of the community for communal immersion, a central part in their daily rituals. An earthquake severely damaged the buildings and mikva'ot of Qumran in 31 BCE. Excavations revealed cracks in walls and a thick layer of ash from a fire that had raged. The earthquake was mentioned by Josephus .

(Antiquities 15, 121 ff.; Wars I, 370 ff.) The settlement at Qumran was subsequently abandoned, until the beginning of the 1st century CE, when members of the community returned and settled there once more. They restored the earlier structures and, with various additions and modifications, used them. In the main building was a long room, in which remains of benches, or low tables, made of mud and plastered on the outside, as well as small clay inkwells were found. According to the excavator, these finds indicate that the room was a scriptorium, where the settlement's scribes copied the holy writings and the laws governing the community. Perhaps only a few dozen of the leaders of the community lived permanently at Qumran. Most of the members of the sect, probably totaling several thousand, lived in villages and cities. A large Essene community certainly lived in Jerusalem (according to Josephus , the name of the gate in the southern wall of Jerusalem, at Mt. Zion, was called the Essenes' Gate).

For certain periods of time, members of the sect lived in the desert near Qumran and during holidays and community events, many more arrived and lived in tents, huts and the caves nearby. In a survey and excavations conducted recently in the caves on the marl slopes north of the site, pottery vessels were found, indicating the use of the caves as dwellings. Stone circles nearby also indicate a tent encampment. The buildings at Qumran were blocked in the east by a wall of large stones. Beyond it, the marl terraces extend several hundred meters before ending in a cliff. On this marl surface was a large cemetery with over 1,000 graves in north-south oriented rows. A few were excavated, revealing the simplest of individual graves dug into the marl and covered with a pile of stones. Most of those buried weremales, though at the edge of the cemetery there were also graves of females and children. The settlement at Qumran was destroyed during the Jewish War against Rome in 68 CE, and it was never resettled.

The Dead Sea Scrolls Scrolls and other objects from the Second Temple period were found in several caves near Qumran, both in natural caves in the hard limestone cliffs west of the site and in caves cut into the marl cliffs near Qumran. When the Roman army approached, the inhabitants of Qumran fled to the caves and hid their documents in them. The dry climate of the Dead Sea region presethese manuscripts, written on parchment, for 2000 years. In Cave No. 4, in the marl cliff south of the site, the excavators found only 15,000 small fragments of an estimated 600 different manuscripts. Individuals in ancient times or modern Bedouin may have removed scrolls from this cave, leaving only scraps. This cave was used by the Essenes as a geniza, a place for keeping worn-out sacred writings. In the 1950s and 1960s, many caves in the canyons of the Judean Desert along the Dead Sea were surveyed and excavated. The documents found there, and in the caves around Qumran, include copies of all of the books of the Bible (except for the Scroll of Esther ).

The most famous of these is the complete scroll of Isaiah , which was written sometime between the 2nd century BCE and the destruction of the site in 68 CE. This date was recently confirmed by a radiocarbon examination of a sample of the parchment of the scroll. The books of the Qumran library are regarded as the oldest existing copies of the books of the Bible. Writings of the Essene sect, whose spiritual center was located here in the 200 years preceding the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Temple, were also found in the caves near Qumran. Qumran RELATED LINKS The Ruins of Qumran The site of Qumran ruins (Khirbet Qumran) had been occupied at various times in antiquity. At a low level were found the remains of walls and pottery from Iron Age II (8-7th centuries BCE). A deep circular cistern also belongs to this period (centuries later it was incorporated in an elaborate system of aqueducts and reservoirs). Probably this was the site known as the Biblical "Ir ha-Melah" - City of Salt.

In approximately 130 BCE new occupants cleared the circular cistern, added two rectangular cisterns, constructed a few rooms, and installed two pottery kilns. 30 years later two- and three-storey buildings were added, and an elaborated water-collecting system was constructed (incorporated the earlier ones) consisting of cisterns connected by channels and supplied by aqueduct from a dam. There is a vast evidence that the manuscripts discovered in the Qumran caves belonged to the library of the occupants of the site in this period - a small hermit community referred as the Dead Sea Sect . During the Jewish War the place was apparently stormed by Romans and ruined, and then occupied by a Roman garrison for 20 years. Bar-Kokhba fighters occupied the ruins in 132-135 CE. The main building on the site occupied about 37 square meters, constructed of large undressed stones, and with a strong tower in the northwestern corner. On the west side is a long room used apparently as an eating-room. In the adjacent smaller room over a thousand of ceramic vessels were found.

They may have been manufactured on the spot, since the excavations brought to light the best preserved pottery thus far found in the Land of Israel . A first-storey room in the southwest part of the building was evidently furnished as a writing-room. Flour mills, a stable, a laundry and various workshops were also uncovered. The occupants apparently aimed to be as self-sufficient as possible. There were apparently no sleeping quarters; tents or caves may have served the occupants for shelter. Near the settlement and separated from it by a wall there is a large cemetery The Dead Sea Scrolls In 1947 two Bedouin shepherds accidentally came across a clay jar in a cave near Khirbet Qumran that contained seven parchment scrolls. The scrolls came into the hands of dealers in antiquities who offered them to scholars. The first scholar to recognize their antiquity was E.L. Sukenik, who succeeded in acquiring three of them for the Hebrew University. Between 1948 and 1950 he published specimens of them, his "editio princeps" appearing posthumously in 1955.

The four other scrolls were smuggled to the United States, where three of them were published in 1950-51. Later they were offered for sale (in a usual newspaper ad, five lines long, under "Miscellaneous for sale). Yigael Yadin, the son of E.L. Sukenik and also an outstanding archaeologist, succeeded in buying them and bringing back to Israel. The Israel Museum in Jerusalem constructed a special site for exhibiting the scrolls - the Shrine of the Book (opened in 1965). Strict atmospheric conditions are observed there to minimize the possible damage to the scrolls. In the meantime a group of scholars under the leadership of R. de Vaux began to search and excavate the cave where the first scrolls were found, as well as some 40 caves in its vicinity. Many scrolls and thousands of fragments were found in 11 caves. Y. Yadin has acquired several important items from them. Due to difficulties in deciphering, the material it was published very slowly. Most of the manuscripts arrived to the Rockfeller Museum in Jerusalem, and became available to to Israel scholars after the Six-Day War in Jerusalem. The Qumran manuscripts were mostly written on parchment, some on papyrus.

They are dated by the closing period of the Second Temple and assumed to be a part of the library belonging to a community from Qumran, known also as a "Dead Sea Sect" . In some caves the manuscripts were carefully placed in covered cylindrical jars, whereas in other ones they appear to have been dumped in haste. In a cave that yielded the greatest amount of documents, the storage conditions were the worst, and the manuscripts disintegrated into tens of thousands of fragments, which had to be pieced together with the utmost patience and care. The news of the discovery of the first scrolls in 1947 aroused intense interest throughout the world and considerable controversy, especially with regard to their dating. The largest manuscript (the complete Isaiah Scroll in Hebrew, 7m. long) was authoritatively dated by around 100 BCE. Some scholars claimed that the scrolls belonged to a much later date and have no scientific importance. However, this was proved wrong when similar materials were discovered at Masada , in the archaeological stratum dated not later than 73 CE. The documents contain over 100 copies of the books of the Hebrew Bible, most of which survived only as fragments.

Out of 24 books all except the Book of Ester are represented. Fragments of Septuagint text have been also identified, some of them evidently the oldest documents of this kind. A further contribution to the biblical material from Qumran is made by the commentaries on various books. Since the biblical text is quoted in them phrase by phrase before the comment is appended, they provide important evidence for the text of the Hebrew Bible at the end of the Second Temple time. Before the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls, three variants of the Hebrew Bible texts were known: the "proto-masoretic" type (one that was a base for a later canonized text), the type apparently underlying the Septuagint , and the one close to Samaritan Bible. Not only texts belonging to all three types were found in Qumran, but texts of types unknown before, as well as texts of mixed types. Several important apocryphal documents in Hebrew and Aramaic were found, some of them previously unknown. Certain manuscripts apparently describe the life of Qumran community: the Manual of Discipline, the Damascus Document, the Thanksgiving Psalms, and the War scroll.

They tell about the community's origin and history, its rules of life, and expectations for the dawn of new age. The Dead Sea Sect The community to which the Dead Sea Scrolls apparently belonged occupied Qumran around 130 BCE to 70 CE, and possibly lived also in other places in the region. The name "Dead Sea Sect" was given to it because the main knowledge of the sect derives from these manuscripts. The sect was an extremist offshot of the Jewish apocalyptic movement, whose basic doctrine was the expectation of the soon end of days. When it comes, the wicked would be destroyed, and Israel freed from the yoke of the nations. Before this, God would raise for Himself a community of elect who were destined to be saved from the divine visitation, and who were the nucleus of the society of the future. The Dead Sea Sect carried these views to extremes specific to itself. They believed that God had decreed not only the end but also the division of mankind into two antagonistic camps called "the sons of light and the sons of darkness", lead by superhuman "prince of light" and "angel of darkness" respectively.

Reference is also made to "the spirit of truth" and "the spirit of perverseness" which are given to mankind. Of these, each person receives his portion, in accordance with which he is either righteous or wicked. Between these two categories God has set "eternal enmity" which would cease only in the end of days, with the destruction of the spirit of perversion and the purification of the righteous from its influence. Then "the sons of the spirit of truth" would receive their reward. The bulk of mankind was immersed in evil and liable to suffer divine visitation. To avoid this destiny, members of the sect chose to go to the wilderness and to conduct there a strict way of life in a zealous preparation for future reward. The members of the sect regarded themselves as "an eternal planting", and lived in readiness for the advent of the end of days, when God would raise up for Himself the future Human society, in which they would be "leaders and princes". The members of the sect may have had several forms of organization. Two of them are described in documents known as the Manual of Discipline and the Damascus Document.

The Manual of Discipline called for a full communal life: "they shall eat communally, and bless communally, and take counsel communally". The document does not deal with an event of anyone being born, and the community was presumably a celibate male one. The community strictly observed the laws of ritual purity, regarded all non-members as ritually unclean, and insisted on "obedience from he lower to the higher". For this purpose there was a list of members according to their gradings that was drawn anew every year. The members of the sect were "volunteers" who joined its ranks of their own free will. Offenses against internal discipline were punished, in accordance with the special code, by temporary exclusion. Due to the Damascus document, however, another form of organization also existed, allowing private property, women and children, and organization as a whole was looser. The sect followed its own interpretation of traditional Judaism which had at least one clear peculiarity: it stated that a calendar of 364 days had to be adopted. They believed to be the only people to know the exact order of the planets and therefore the right calendar.

The Temple service was regarded as obligatory, but the sect dissociated itself from the contemporary Temple which its priests, according to them, has defied. In the future the sect would conduct the Temple service in a fitting matter; until that time it exhibited a certain tendency to regard its organization and life as having a religious significance equal to that of the sacrificial service. The history of the sect and the development of its ideas are unknown. However, some details about its founder are known from documents. He is known as "the teacher of Righteousness", and figures both as the spiritual leader who guides his followers in the path of truth and as the social leader who contends with the ruler in Judea, "the Wicked Priest" (the apparent reference to one of the Hasmonean kings). The Damascus Document states that before the advent of the Teacher of Righteousness there existed a group whose members were "for 20 years like blind men groping their way at noon", until god raised for them the Teaches "to guide in the way of His heart". Getting There The ruins of Qumran are under the auspice of the Qumran National Park, west of the Road 90 going along the Dead Sea.

The turn to the Park is some 7 km south from Beit Haarava junction. References: Carta's Official Guide to Israel Encyclopedia Judaica Related Links Qumran: Community Rule Community Rule [1QS] Hebrew: Serekh ha Yachad Most important non-canonical ms. discovered in cave 1 at Qumran ( 1947 ). It was originally purchased by the Syrian Orthodox archbishop of Jerusalem but later acquired by the state of Israel ( 1954 ). It was first published in English as the Manual of Discipline ( 1951 ). Fragments of 10 other copies were later found in Cave 4 & another in Cave 5. 1QS is a six foot scroll [11 columns] of a communal handbook that was found almost intact [beginning & bottom edge missing], containing instructions for initiates into a hierarchical covenant community [yachad] of the "sons of light" led by Zadokite priests who separated from the "sons of darkness" to purify themselves in preparation for impending last judgment.

It ends with a long hymn by a penitent celebrating the purification of the elect & their union with "the sons of Heaven." Parallels between the contents of this community rule & Josephus' descriptions of the Essenes are largely responsible for the modern scholarly consensus that the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls were Essenes. Other resources on line: Qumran & the Dead Sea Scrolls Qumran & the Dead Sea Scrolls By Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | November 6, 2012 05:01pm ET MORE The site of Khirbet Qumran (a modern Arabic name) is located in the West Bank, near the northern edge of the Dead Sea, and is the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in nearby caves. The first settlement was created during the Iron Age, but was abandoned about 2,600 years ago, long before the scrolls were made. A virtual view of the northeast corner of the reconstructed Khirbet Qumran fortress, facing southwest towards the caves. Credit: Robert R.

Cargill and Jennifer Dillon / © Copyright 2007-2009 UCLA Qumran Visualization Project Archaeological work indicates that a second settlement existed between roughly 100 B.C. and A.D. 68, when it was captured by the Roman army and destroyed in a fire. The heat was so intense that modern-day archaeologists have found glass vessels “melted down” by it. It is in this settlement that many scholars believe at least some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were written before being hidden away. Discovery of the scrolls Explorers first came across Qumran in the 19th century, and the site took on new importance with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The scrolls were first found in 1946 or 1947 (accounts of the exact date vary) when a young shepherd by the name of Muhammed Edh-Dhib was looking for a stray goat. At one point “he was amusing himself by throwing stones.

One of these fell into a small hole in the rock and was followed by the sound of the breaking of pottery,” writes researcher Geza Vermes in his book "The Story of the Scrolls" (Penguin Books, 2010). “Muhammed climbed in and found several ancient manuscripts in a jar. Altogether seven scrolls were subsequently removed from the cave.” Over the next decade, local Bedouin and scientific researchers would discover the remains of more than 900 manuscripts in 11 caves (12 if you consider that cave four had two separate sections in antiquity). Each cave is located near Qumran, the furthest one being just over one mile (1.6 km) to the north of the site. The scrolls found include copies of Genesis, Exodus, Isaiah, Kings and Deuteronomy, among other canonical works from the Hebrew Bible. They also include calendars, hymns, psalms, apocryphal (non-canonical) biblical works and community rules. One scroll is made of copper and describes the location of buried treasure. There were no New Testament gospels found in the caves.

[ Gallery of Dead Sea Scrolls: A Glimpse of the Past ] The Temple scroll is the thinnest of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Discovered in 1956, it contains God's instructions on how to run the Temple. Credit: The Israel Museum, Jerusalum Study of the letter styles of the scrolls, along with carbon-14 dating, indicates that they were penned between roughly 200 B.C. and A.D. 70, the copper scroll being written perhaps a few decades later. Vermes writes that the vast majority of the scrolls are written in Hebrew with a smaller number in Aramaic and only a few in Greek (although Greek was a popular language at the time). Most of the scrolls were composed on leather (sheep and goat skin in particular). Recent analysis of textiles found with the scrolls shows that the textiles were originally used as clothing. They are all made of linen (even though wool was the more popular garment at the time) with most of them undecorated. The researchers argue that according to historical accounts these textiles are similar to what people belonging to an ancient sect called the Essenes wore.

Qumran The settlement of Qumran is very small and never grew much larger than one acre. Its population may have been no higher than a few dozen people. Recent archaeological work by Yitzhak Magen and Yuval Peleg of the Israel Antiquities Authority indicates that around 100 B.C. a Hasmonean military outpost with a watchtower and stables was constructed at Qumran. The Hasmoneans were a dynasty of Jewish rulers that controlled a state centered in modern-day Israel. In an interview with the website Heritage Key, Peleg stressed that this outpost was a modest structure. “It’s a small site with small units. All its purpose was was to see that no enemy army was coming to the Dead Sea shores, climbing the cliffs towards Jerusalem.” In 63 B.C., the Romans took control of the Hasmonean Kingdom, and archaeological work indicates that Qumran transitioned to civilian use. Magen and Peleg write that around this time the site’s water supply was “tripled” with the construction of an aqueduct and additional pools. Altogether, Qumran had eight stepped pools that some researchers believe to be ritual baths known as mikveh.

Why the water supply was increased is a matter of debate. A priest named Roland de Vaux, who excavated at Qumran about 50 years ago and first noted the stepped water pools, argued that the site’s population was increasing and the water system expansion was needed for drinking and baths. Magen and Peleg argue that this is unlikely. Their excavations show that residential space at Qumran did not increase and that only two or three of the stepped pools were ritually suited to be used as mikveh. The researchers argue that pottery production was the reason for Qumran’s water system expansion. They point out that “tens of thousands of pottery fragments” were found at Qumran and their excavations reveal that at least one large pool had a thick layer of potter’s clay. The people at Qumran apparently engaged in writing. De Vaux’s excavations revealed a room that he called the “scriptorium,” which had two inkwells along with plastered benches or tables. It could have been used for writing scrolls and/or business records, depending on how the site is interpreted.

Qumran’s cemeteries Qumran has three cemeteries, the main burial ground located just to the east of the site. It’s estimated that 1,000 tombs are located in them, some dating to the time of Qumran but others (such as those made by local Bedouin) dating to much later. Dating the burials at the cemetery is a difficult problem, writes Brian Schultz, of Bar Ilan University, in a 2006 article in the journal "Dead Sea Discoveries." Researchers have to rely on artifacts found in the tombs, the orientation of the burials (the Jewish burials are more likely to face north-south) and radiocarbon dating. So far, 46 tombs have been excavated and published says Schultz, out of which 32 can be dated to the time of Qumran, most of them adult men. Schultz writes that the complete lack of children and the presence of (at most) only five women suggest that a monastic group composed mainly of men lived at Qumran. Qumran and the scrolls The relationship between the scrolls and Qumran is a source of great scholarly debate.

Some researchers, such as de Vaux, have argued that the scrolls were deposited in the caves by the Essenes, who in turn lived at Qumran. On the other hand, some scholars, such as Magen and Peleg, argue that the site itself has no relationship to the scrolls, the manuscripts being deposited by refugees, likely from Jerusalem, fleeing the Roman army. Robert Cargill, now a professor at the University of Iowa, has created a virtual model of Qumran , giving researchers a tool to help reconstruct its architecture. He argues that multiple groups (including people from Qumran) could have been putting scrolls into the caves. This theory offers an explanation as to why there are scrolls written in three languages and why the copper scroll (discussing treasure) may date to after Qumran’s destruction. Dead Sea Scrolls: The Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls St. Catherine's The Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls In the spring of 1947 Bedouin goat-herds, searching the cliffs along the Dead Sea for a lost goat (or for treasure, depending on who is telling the story), came upon a cave containing jars filled with manuscripts.

That find caused a sensation when it was released to the world, and continues to fascinate the scholarly community and the public to this day. The Qumran site and the Dead Sea. The first discoveries came to the attention of scholars in 1948, when seven of the scrolls were sold by the Bedouin to a cobbler and antiquities dealer called Kando. He in turn sold three of the scrolls to Eleazar L. Sukenik of Hebrew University, and four to Metropolitan Mar Athanasius Yeshue Samuel of the Syrian Orthodox monastery of St. Mark. Mar Athanasius in turn brought his four to the American School of Oriental Research, where they came to the attention of American and European scholars. It was not until 1949 that the site of the find was identified as the cave now known as Qumran Cave 1. It was that identification that led to further explorations and excavations of the area of Khirbet Qumran. Further search of Cave 1 revealed archaeological finds of pottery, cloth and wood, as well as a number of additional manuscript fragments. It was these discoveries that proved decisively that the scrolls were indeed ancient and authentic. Qumran Cave 4.

Between 1949 and 1956, in what became a race between the Bedouin and the archaeologists, ten additional caves were found in the hills around Qumran, caves that yielded several more scrolls, as well as thousands of fragments of scrolls: the remnants of approximately 800 manuscripts dating from approximately 200 B.C.E. to 68 C.E. The manuscripts of the Qumran caves include early copies of biblical books in Hebrew and Aramaic, hymns, prayers, Jewish writings known as pseudepigrapha (because they are attributed to ancient biblical characters such as Enoch or the patriarchs), and texts that seem to represent the beliefs of a particular Jewish group that may have lived at the site of Qumran. Most scholars believe that the Qumran community was very similar to the Essenes, one of four Jewish "philosophies" described by Josephus, a first century C.E. Jewish historian. Some have pointed to similarities with other Jewish groups mentioned by Josephus: the Sadducees, Pharisees, and Zealots.

We do not know precisely who wrote those sectarian scrolls, but we can say that the authors seemed to be connected to the priesthood, were led by priests, disapproved of the Jerusalem priesthood, encouraged a strict and pious way of life, and expected an imminent confrontation between the forces of good and evil. The Qumran archaeological site. The Qumran library has proven to be enormously informative. From these texts we have increased our understanding of the transmission of the Bible, we have learned more about the development of early Judaism, and we have gained insight into the culture out of which emerged both Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity. Photographs by Bruce and Kenneth Zuckerman, West Semitic Research. Commentary by Marilyn J. Lundberg. Copyright © 2000-2016 West Semitic Research Project. All rights reserved. Contact us at mlundber@usc.edu .

Introduction - Scrolls from the Dead Sea | Exhibitions - Library of Congress Scrolls from the Dead Sea Introduction Artifacts from the Qumran Site The World of the Scrolls In 1947, young Bedouin shepherds, searching for a stray goat in the Judean Desert, entered a long-untouched cave and found jars filled with ancient scrolls. That initial discovery by the Bedouins yielded seven scrolls and began a search that lasted nearly a decade and eventually produced thousands of scroll fragments from eleven caves. During those same years, archaeologists searching for a habitation close to the caves that might help identify the people who deposited the scrolls, excavated the Qumran ruin, a complex of structures located on a barren terrace between the cliffs where the caves are found and the Dead Sea. Within a fairly short time after their discovery, historical, paleographic, and linguistic evidence, as well as carbon-14 dating, established that the scrolls and the Qumran ruin dated from the third century B.C.E. to 68 C.E. They were indeed ancient! Coming from the late Second Temple Period, a time when Jesus of Nazareth lived, they are older than any other surviving manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures by almost one thousand years.

Since their discovery nearly half a century ago, the scrolls and the identity of the nearby settlement have been the object of great scholarly and public interest, as well as heated debate and controversy. Why were the scrolls hidden in the caves? Who placed them there? Who lived in Qumran? Were its inhabitants responsible for the scrolls and their presence in the caves? Of what significance are the scrolls to Judaism and Christianity? This exhibition presents twelve Dead Sea Scroll fragments and archaeological artifacts courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority as well as supplementary materials from the Library of Congress. It is designed to retell the story of the scrolls' discovery; explore their archaeological and historical context; introduce the scrolls themselves; explore the various theories concerning the nature of the Qumran community; and examine some of the challenges facing modern researchers as they struggle to reconstruct the scrolls from the tens of thousands of fragments that remain. The Dead Sea The Dead Sea is located in Israel and Jordan, about 15 miles east of Jerusalem. It is extremely deep (averaging about 1,000 feet), salty (some parts containing the highest amount of salts possible), and the lowest body of water in the world.

The Dead Sea is supplied by a number of smaller streams, springs, and the Jordan River. Because of its low elevation and its position in a deep basin, the climate of the Dead Sea area is unusual. Its very high evaporation does produce a haze yet its atmospheric humidity is low. Adjacent areas to it are very arid and favorable for the preservation of materials like the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Bible's description, in Genesis 19, of a destructive earthquake near the Dead Sea area during the time of Abraham is borne out by archaeological and historic investigation. While no evidence remains of the five cities of the plain (Zeboim, Admah, Bela or Zoar, Sodom, and Gomorrah) their sites are believed to be beneath the waters at the southern end of the sea. Archaeological sites near the Dead Sea include Masada, Ein Gedi, and Qumran (where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found). Map of the Dead Sea Region Back to Top The Psalms Scroll This scroll fragment was displayed in the exhibit at the Library of Congress, May-August 1993. It was provided courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The exhibit caption and translation provide background on the fragment and its relationship with the other Dead Sea Scrolls, the Qumran Community, and its Library. The Psalms Scroll This impressive scroll is a collection of psalms and hymns, comprising parts of forty-one biblical psalms (chiefly form chapters 101-50), in non-canonical sequence and with variations in detail. It also presents previously unknown hymns, as well as a prose passage about the psalms composed by King David. One of the longer texts to be found at Qumran, the manuscript was found in 1956 in Cave 11 and unrolled in 1961. Its surface is the thickest of any of the scrolls--it may be of calfskin rather than sheepskin, which was the more common writing material at Qumran. The script is on the grain side of the skin. The scroll contains twenty-eight incomplete columns of text, six of which are displayed here (cols. 14-19). Each of the preserved columns contains fourteen to seventeen lines; it is clear that six to seven lines are lacking at the bottom of each column.

The scroll's script is of fine quality, with the letters carefully drawn in the Jewish book-hand style of the Herodian period. The Tetragrammaton (the four-letter divine name), however, is written in the paleo-Hebrew script. Reference: Sanders, J. A. The Psalms Scroll of Qumran Cave 11 (11QPs[superscript]a). Discoveries in the Judaean Desert, IV. Oxford, 1965. Bookmark this item: #obj5 Artifacts from the Qumran Site These artifacts from the Qumran Site were included in the exhibit at the Library of Congress, May - August 1993. They were provided courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority. The exhibit captions provide background on the objects and their relationship with the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Qumran Community, and its Library. Scroll Jar Some of the scrolls found by Bedouin shepherds in 1947 were discovered in cylindrical pottery jars of this type, which are unknown elsewhere.

Many authorities consider the discovery of these unique vessels in the Qumran excavations as well as in the caves, as convincing evidence of the link between the settlement and the caves. These jars, like the other pottery vessels recovered at Qumran, were probably manufactured locally. The Dead Sea Scrolls - Discovery Sites Discovery Sites Enlarge ‏Qumran Caves Early in 1949 archaeologists identified cave 1, triggering the beginning of an archaeological investigation of the area. Exploration of the cave, which lies one kilometer north of Wadi Qumran, yielded the remains of at least 70 manuscripts, including bits of the original seven Scrolls. The cave’s discovery established the origin of the purchased Scrolls, while archaeological artifacts recovered there confirmed the Scroll dates suggested by paleographic analysis. At the same time the Bedouin continued to search for Scrolls, as these scraps of leather proved to be a lucrative source of income. Fresh material found by Bedouin in other caves proved that the Cave 1 discovery was not an isolated phenomenon in the desert; additional caves with manuscripts also existed.

The years between 1951 and 1956 were marked by accelerated activity in both the search for caves and the archaeological excavation of the Qumran site. An eight-kilometer-long strip of cliffs was thoroughly investigated. Of the 11 Qumran Caves that yielded written remains, five were discovered by Bedouin and six by archaeologists. Qumran Cave 1 (1Q) – Discovered by a young Bedouin shepherd in 1947 and excavated by archaeologists in 1949. The first Dead Sea Scrolls were found in this cave, later called Cave 1. They were the best-preserved, said to have been protected by tall clay jars with lids intact. This seven-Scroll discovery revolutionized the study of the Hebrew Bible and the origins of Judeo-Christianity. Scrolls found in Cave 1 include the Community Rule, War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness, Thanksgiving Scroll (Hodayot), Isaiah A and B, Genesis Apocryphon and Pesher Habakkuk (Habakkuk Commentary). When archaeologists excavated the cave, they found additional fragments of these Scrolls and fragments of dozens of other scrolls.

Cave 1 Alexander Schick Qumran Cave 2 (2Q) – Discovered by Bedouin in 1952. Cave 2 yielded fragments of many biblical books, including all Five Books of Moses, Jeremiah and Psalms, as well as other works such as Jubilees and the book of Enoch. Qumran Cave 3 (3Q) – Discovered and excavated by archaeologists in 1952. Cave 3 unearthed a unique two-part copper Scroll, listing what may be sites of the Temple’s buried treasure, hidden throughout the Judean wilderness and Jerusalem area. According to the Scroll, the secret caches held astonishing amounts of gold, silver, copper, and aromatics. Besides the Copper Scroll, Cave 3 also contained fragments of about a dozen biblical and non-biblical Scrolls, including a copy of Jubilees. Copper Scroll Qumran Cave 4 (4Q) – Discovered by Bedouin treasure hunters in 1952, who were exploring right under the noses of archaeologists excavating the site of Qumran.

The most legendary of all caves, Cave 4 revealed ample treasures: thousands of fragments from hundreds of manuscripts, comprising 75% of all material from the Qumran caves, including parts of biblical and apocryphal books, biblical commentaries, works on Jewish law, prayers, sectarian texts, tefillin and mezuzot. Due to their poor condition, these fragments were among the most difficult to decipher and translate. Qumran Cave 5 (5Q) – Discovered and excavated by archaeologists in 1952. Cave 5 yielded fragments of approximately 25 parchment Scrolls, including biblical and sectarian texts. Qumran Cave 6 (6Q) – Discovered by Bedouin in 1952. Cave 6 contained fragments of about 31 Scrolls mostly written on papyrus, including biblical works, hymns, and sectarian compositions. This small cave is the most accessible of the Dead Sea Scrolls sites to visitors today. Caves 7-10 (7Q, 8Q, 9Q, 10Q) – Discovered in 1955 by archaeologists.

All manuscripts found in Cave 7 were in Greek, including a translation of the book of Exodus. Some scholars have attempted to identify certain tiny fragments from 7Q1-7Q18, Greek papyrus fragments from Cave 7Cave 7 as New Testament texts. Cave 8 contained fragments of Genesis, Psalms, a mezuzah, a hymn and tefillin. Additionally, the discovery of food remains, an abundance of oil lamps and 68 leather reinforcing tabs for scrolls indicate that the cave may have been used as a workshop. Cave 9 yielded only a single papyrus fragment. Archaeologists found only one inscribed potsherd in Cave 10. Qumran Cave 11 (11Q) – Discovered by Bedouin in 1956. The last of the Qumran Scrolls found to date were discovered in this cave. The remains of around 30 manuscripts were found, including a few nearly-complete Scrolls: Leviticus (written in paleo-Hebrew), Psalms and an Aramaic targum of Job.

The most exciting find was the Temple Scroll (the longest of the Dead Sea Scrolls), which rewrites the book of Deuteronomy and details regulations pertaining to Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple. Cave 11 Alexander Schick ‏Bar Kokhba Revolt Refuge Caves In the 1950s and 1960s archaeologists and Bedouin competed for textual finds beyond the Qumran area. The most significant of these manuscripts from other Judean Desert sites are the scrolls dating to the era of the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-135 ce) recovered from the caves of Wadi Murabba'at and Nahal Hever. Wadi Murabba'at (Nahal Darga; MUR) – Discovered by Bedouin in 1951. Most of the 170 manuscripts found in the five caves of Murabba'at date to the period of the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-135 ce). Primarily administrative documents written on papyrus, these financial records belonged to refugees from the revolt who sought shelter in these caves, located about 18 km south of Khirbet Qumran.

Textual finds also include letters written by the leader of the revolt himself, Shim'on Bar Kokhba (officially Shim’on, son of Kosiba), as well as a few religious Scrolls, most notably a Scroll of the Twelve Minor Prophets. nahal hever (hev) Discovered by Bedouin in the early 1950s. Some Scroll fragments purchased from Bedouin in 1952 were later discovered to have originated in the Nahal Hever caves, located between Ein Gedi and Masada. Full-scale archaeological excavations of the ten Nahal Hever caves (1960-1961) uncovered one of the largest caches of ancient documents found in the Judean Desert. They date to the period of the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-135 ce). The manuscripts found in these refuge caves include personal documents of refugees, military communications between Bar Kokhba and his officers, and some biblical compositions. Nahal Hever Cave 5-6 (5/6Hev) – Labeled "Cave of the Letters," this cave contains material with precise dates, ranging from 94-132 ce.

It includes three archives: A leather waterskin containing 15 letters (in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek), most of which were sent by Shim'on Bar Kohkba (Shim'on b. Kosiba), the leader of the Bar Kohkba revolt. A wrapped package stored inside a leather purse, containing 35 personal financial records, belonging to a woman named Babatha. Five contracts belonging to Eleazar, a farmer from Ein Gedi. Cave of Letters Nahal Hever Cave 8 (8Hev) – This cave is called the "Cave of Horror" because 40 skeletons were found here, the remains of those seeking refuge during the Bar Kokhba Revolt. Archaeologists found three ostraca, which had been placed on the skeletons, inscribed with the names of the deceased. The main textual find was a well-preserved Scroll of the Twelve Minor Prophets in Greek. An especially noteworthy element of the "Seiyal Collection" is the archive of Salome b. Levi: eight documents from the beginning of the second century ce written in Greek and Aramaic.

Seiyal Collection (XHev/Se) – An assortment of documents sold to the Rockefeller Museum by Bedouin in the 1950s make up the "Seiyal Collection". The origins of these manuscripts are mostly unknown—Bedouin claimed to have found these materials at Nahal Se’elim, but later archaeological excavations proved otherwise for at least some of the fragments. Several "Seiyal Collection" fragments were found to be parts of manuscripts later found at Nahal Hever and a deed of sale originating in Wadi Murabba’at. Other Discovery Sites Wadi Daliyeh (Cave of Abu Shinjeh; WD) – Discovered by Bedouin in 1962. A cache of 40 Aramaic papyrus fragments, inscribed seals and coins, and the skeletal remains of 205 people were discovered in this cave, approximately 14 km north of Jericho. These ancient papyri are Samaritan legal documents from the Persian period (4th century bce), mostly deeds of sale for slaves.

The owners of the documents were wealthy Samaritans who fled Samaria after the invasion of Alexander the Great in 333 bce, but were likely assassinated by Alexander's troops. Cave 11 Photo: Duby Tal, Albatross Masada (Mas) – A full scale excavation by archaeologists took place between 1963-65. Masada, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is best known as the location of the Judean rebels’ dramatic last stand against Rome in the Great Revolt of 66-73 ce. These rebels appropriated Herod's spectacular palace fortress as their opposition base. Manuscripts discovered at Masada were not found in caves, but rather within the structures of the reconfigured palace, near the section identified as a synagogue. Dating to the Roman period, the major discovery here consists of fragments from seven biblical Scrolls (Genesis, two copies of Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Ezekiel, and two copies of Psalms) as well as a copy of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice and a Hebrew text of Ben Sira. The biblical Scrolls match the traditional Masoretic text, which suggests that a stabilized text was already in place by the first-century ce.

Additional findings include Greek and Latin papyri, made up of primarily administrative military documents belonging to Roman soldiers stationed at the site after the revolt. An exception is a scrap of papyrus containing a line from Virgil's Aeneid, "Anna, sister, how my dreams terrify me and leave me hanging!” (IV.9). In this context, the line has been interpreted as reflecting a Roman soldier’s reaction to the sight of the bodies of the martyred rebels. Time Line of Early Christianity--The Lost Gospel of Judas--National Geographic [an error occurred while processing this directive] Dead Sea Scrolls Found A.D. 1947 Probably originally hidden during the Roman sack of Jerusalem around 70 A.D., the Dead Sea Scrolls are one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. Photograph copyright John C. Trever/The Dead Sea Scroll Foundation/Corbis The Dead Sea scrolls are one of the greatest discoveries in archaeological history. The ancient texts first came to light in 1947, when a young goat herder stumbled upon some manuscripts hidden in a cave at Khirbat Qumrān—about a dozen miles (19 kilometers) from the ancient West Bank city of Jericho.

The leatherbound papyrus manuscripts include hundreds of distinct works. The predominantly Hebrew writings are a wellspring of information about the Holy Land from the third century B.C. to the second century A.D., including the birth and growth of Christianity and the new faith's religious and social relationships to Judaism. As the scrolls' value became known, local Bedouin nomads and archaeologists raced to find more. To date the area has yielded scrolls from 11 different caves. The finds include a nearly complete Hebrew Old Testament Bible, which has allowed scholars to date the existence of that text to no later than A.D. 70. In addition, the Copper Scroll was a sort of archaeological treasure map guiding scholars to dozens of other hidden texts. And the Temple Scroll contained detailed construction plans for the Temple of Jerusalem. Many scholars believe that the documents belonged to a Hebrew religious sect that lived in the area during the first century A.D. The scrolls' guardians may have hidden them from the Romans during the First Jewish Revolt (A.D. 66 to 70). Since their discovery the scrolls have often been a source of controversy among scholars.

Texts of the more complete documents were published soon after their discovery but most of the scrolls have deteriorated into thousands of tiny fragments. Access to these texts was for many years tightly controlled by a small group of scholars working under the Jordan Department of Antiquities and later, after Israel took over the area in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, the Israel Antiquities Authority. In 1991 the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, allowed scholars unlimited access to its complete collection of scroll photographs—finally opening the priceless texts to study by the larger community of eager scholars.

Question: What was discovered at Qumran in 1947?
Answer: Dead Sea Scrolls